Thousands of Mexican miners held a one-day strike Feb. 19, marking the one-year anniversary of the underground blast that killed 65 at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in northern Coahuila state. Relatives of the victims celebrated a Mass and… Read moreMexico: strike and scandal on anniversary of mine disaster
Jorge Noguera, former head of Colombia’s Department of Administrative Security (DAS) under President Alvaro Uribe, was arrested Feb. 22. He is accused of handing over a hit list of human rights workers and trade union activists to the right-wing paramilitaries…. Read moreColombia: ex-spy chief arrested
From DPA, Feb. 23: LONDON – A group of mothers who lost sons in Iraq Friday set up a ‘peace camp’ outside the Downing Street offices of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London. They were joined by relatives of… Read moreBritish “war mothers” protest at Downing Street
Anti-war protesters clashed with police in Sydney Feb. 22 before the arrival of US Vice President Dick Cheney. Seven people were arrested as mounted police attempted to bar hundreds from marching through Australia’s largest city, demanding Prime Minister John Howard… Read moreAussies protest Cheney, Iraq war; troops kill in East Timor
Shades of Bosnia. From the UK-based Middle East Online, Feb. 23: Allegations of sexual abuse of Sunni women by Shiite forces stirred sectarian tensions in Iraq on Friday, while a US soldier was jailed for 100 years for the rape… Read moreRape emerges as fuel for Iraq war
Around 25,000 rallied in the Afghan capital Kabul Feb. 22, calling for a war crimes amnesty for former Mujahedeen commanders to be made law. The protesters, who gathered in a stadium, included ex-Mujahedeen and several top government officials. “Whoever is… Read moreAfghanistan: war criminals win amnesty vote
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Afghanistan’s rebel Hizb-i-Islami rebel movement, has released a video denouncing the US as “the mother of problems” and pledging that US and NATO forces will be driven from the country, likely this year. “As long as… Read moreAfghanistan: Hekmatyar pledges US defeat
Just as Britain has announced a draw-down of 1,600 troops in Iraq, comes the news it will be sending some 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Of the 35,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, some 5,600 are British, mainly deployed in Helmand…. Read moreUK, Australia send more troops to Afghanistan
A resolution from a Dec. 25 conference in Chicago, “Sunni Shia Dialogue to Save Lives,” online at The American Muslim: Resolution: Shia-Suni Dialogue to Save Lives To be signed by immams, khateebs, masjids, Muslim organizations and opinion leaders Whereas, the… Read moreAmerican Muslims issue Shia-Sunni unity resolution
Freedom’s on the march in Washington’s top Arab client state, and the world’s second-largest US aid recipient after Israel. From the BBC News, Feb. 22: An Egyptian court has sentenced a blogger to four years’ prison for insulting Islam and… Read moreEgypt: blogger gets prison
Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned Feb. 21 after his center-left government failed to get the necessary majority of 160 Senate votes to extend Italy’s Afghanistan mission. Both Prodi and Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema lobbied for the extension, but fell short… Read moreItaly: government collapses over Afghan deployment; protesters pledge to resist US base expansion
Denmark has announced that it will pull all of its troops out of Iraq in August, following the British plan to scale back its forces in the country. Tony Blair announced that troops in southern Iraq would be cut by… Read moreDenmark, Lithuania to follow UK out of “coalition of the willing”
